Creditors to Croatia’s largest private company Agrokor are one step closer to potentially taking over the troubled retailer following its formal recognition of K41.2bn (US$6.35bn) of debt claims against it, according to sources close to the situation.

Gulf states are ramping up plans to raise syndicated loans for state-owned firms in a fundraising drive designed to offset the effects of low oil prices that also includes privatisations, financial restructurings and IPOs of state assets.

A US$570m syndicated loan refinancing for Turkey-based QNB Finansbank is highlighting the growing difficulties facing international banks as they struggle to maintain impartiality in Qatar’s dispute with its neighbours.

Qatari banks and financial institutions in neighbouring countries that have severed diplomatic and transport ties are assessing their exposure to each other and seeking to sell loans in the secondary market as the crisis threatens to deepen.

Delegates at the annual Loan Market Association conference that took place in London last week were bullish about the prospects for the African syndicated loan market, despite a significant downturn in deal flow across emerging markets this year.

Loan pricing is falling across the Central Europe Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region as demand for loans remains weak and underlent, and asset-hungry banks battling for business offer lower pricing to win scarce mandates.

Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has encountered problems syndicating a loan to Glencore and Qatar’s wealth fund to finance their purchase of a stake in the Kremlin-controlled oil major Rosneft because of new US sanctions against Russia.